Mesa moving ahead with downtown project, MCC site

Mesa took a step forward Thursday to redevelop a downtown parcel into a mixed-use development and a new Mesa Community College campus.

City officials selected the Athena Group to do a market study and a preliminary design on a prime, 20-acre parcel of city real estate vacant for years.

The Athena Group has built luxury developments in California and on the East Coast — including a high-rise project in Jersey City, N.J., that is a gateway for Jerseyites commuting to Manhattan.

Councilman Scott Somers said it would be a Mesa development that focused on attracting young urban professionals and older residents looking to live downtown, but wanting to escape the high rents of Tempe and Phoenix.

“What we’re trying to do with this piece — this piece is owned by the public — is something bigger and better,” Somers said.

The Athena Group was one of the finalists among development groups selected this September by Phoenix Commercial Advisors, a commercial broker employed by the city.

A preliminary agreement between the city and the Athena Group could come back for review in late April, according to Shelly Allen, the city’s town center development director.

David Greef, senior vice president for the Athena Group, said that a more detailed plan would come to the City Council after a market study was completed.

The group works with a Santa Monica, Calif.-based architect, but stays closely involved with the projects they build, he said.

“We’re always actively involved,” he said. “We’re pretty much residential and mixed-use development.”

About five acres near the city redevelopment site has been set aside for an expansion of Mesa Community College.

However, MCC has pledged only $10 million to the project, well short of what it would take to develop a downtown campus.

The new MCC campus would integrate MCC health and fire safety courses as well as a four-year program offered at Northern Arizona University that could be accessed by MCC students seeking bachelor’s degrees.

About 10,000 students could use the new campus per year, MCC officials have said.

City officials have estimated sale of the property could reap $20 million.

The City Council discussed Thursday whether or not the city was getting the best deal possible for the land transaction.

Councilman Tom Rawles, who once advocated selling the property to the highest bidder, said he needed more details to be able to make a final decision.

“I have no basis for making a decision,” he said.